UCL Qatar paid women less than men

Precious Adesina reports on new findings that show UCL Qatar paid its female staff less than men

UCL has admitted that it has paid women less than men at its Qatari campus, and the revelation couldn’t have come at a worse time.

With the accusation still being disputed that Professor Tim Hunt, a Nobel prize winner who made comments that were deemed sexist, did not choose to resign but was forced out of his post, this information has confused several people about the moral principles of the university.

Only two months ago the Provost, Michael Arthur, released a statement regarding the matter of Tim Hunt which said,

“Equality, diversity and the greatest good for the greatest number are enshrined in our Benthamite origins. Those values hold true to this day and we constantly try to live up to them.”

However, the significant difference in the pay of their Qatari academics appears to contradict that.

It has been reported that a married male employee in Qatar received an allowance at the equivalent of £3,568, while a married female just one pay grade below received £624.

UCL Qatar’s director has agreed that though it is ‘Qatari norm’ for working women to be paid less, it’s definitely “morally and legally not acceptable”.

Another spokesperson for UCL explained that “this was never intended as an intentional policy and as soon as the anomaly came to light we took steps to rectify it. The policy change was backdated so that staff were not disadvantaged.”

UCL has defended itself by highlighting that it was the first university in England to admit female students on equal terms to men, but, according to the Telegraph, staff have still been warned that the contradiction between their words and actions may lead to “major reputational risk for UCL”. Many have already branded UCL as hypocrites.